The New International Encyclopædia/New York, College of the City of

NEW YORK, College of the City of. A public institution of learning in New York City, established by the Board of Education of the city in 1848, and originally known as the Free Academy. Collegiate powers were granted to it in 1858, and in 1866 it assumed its present name. The members of the Board of Education were ex-officio trustees of the college until in 1900 a separate board of trustees was created, composed of nine members appointed by the Mayor, with the president of the college and the president of the Board of Education as ex-officio members. In 1882 the requirement of one year's previous attendance at the public schools of the city was repealed, and the college was thrown open to all young men of the city. In 1900 the length of the course was increased from five years to seven, comprising three years' attendance in the preparatory department and four years of collegiate work. There are five courses of study, leading to the degrees of B.A. or B.S. The M.A. and M.S. degrees are conferred after two years of additional study. Instruction and the use of text-books and apparatus are free to students. The college was one of the first institutions to establish a separate chair of English and to make manual training a part of the curriculum. In 1902 the process of securing a new site for the college, then situated at Lexington Avenue and Twenty-third Street, was completed. The new home of the college is located in the block bounded by 138th and l40th streets, Saint Nicholas Terrace, and Convent Avenue. Ground was broken on March 10, 1903, and the erection of new buildings, estimated to cost $4,000,000, was begun. In 1903 the collegiate department had an attendance of 817, and the preparatory department 997. The instructors numbered 110. The buildings and grounds on the old site were valued at $846,500, and the new grounds at $800,000, the total value of the college property being $1,646,500, and its income $299,362. The library contained 34,911 volumes and 2000 pamphlets. During the first half century of the history of the institution there were but two presidents. Horace Webster (1848-69) and Gen. Alexander S. Webb (1869-1901), both graduates of West Point, and the discipline and curriculum have been greatly influenced by that institution. In 1903 John Huston Finley, professor of politics at Princeton University, became president.